Funny Valentine is a large-flowered red daylily whose foliage looks good all season. The ruffled, sunfast rose red flowers have a bright green throat and are carried on four-way branched scapes with up to 25 buds each.
The gracefully arching leaves have a dark blue-green tone that sets it apart even when not in bloom. It flowers in early July.
What it looks like
Large, ruffled flowers about 5½ inches across in sunfast rose red with a bright green throat, carried on four-way branched scapes. Each bloom lasts a day, but many buds open in turn on branched scapes rising to about 28 inches above a fountain of long, arching, strap-shaped dark blue-green leaves. The foliage clump is about 17 inches tall and 18 to 24 inches wide. At peak bloom many rose red flowers stand above the arching blue-green foliage.
Growing it with lavender
Its rose red flowers and blue-green leaves contrast well with lavender's gray foliage and purple spikes in full sun.
Care
Grow in full sun to light part shade (at least six hours of sun for the best bloom) in average, well-drained soil; once established it handles heat, clay and dry spells. Hardy in zones 3 to 9. Snap off faded flowers for a tidy look, cut bare scapes to the base after bloom and divide crowded clumps every few years.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Hemerocallis
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Flower color: Rose red with a bright green throat
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Foliage: Dark blue-green
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Growth habit: Arching, fountain-like clump
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Mature size: 25–28 in tall × 18–24 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 3–9
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
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Bloom start: Early-July
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Peak bloom: Mid-July
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Bloom pattern: Single Flush
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Deer resistance: Susceptible
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Pollinator value: Good
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.